Wishing bell

Starkl Hotel and Restaurant is a small family-run boutique hotel situated on the shores of Lake Bled in Slovenia’s Upper Carniola region. In existence for nearly 100 years, the hotel recently commissioned a new identity by Studio Hrastar (Milan and Ljubljana) as part of a project to redefine its positioning as one of the most unique hotels in the country.

The hotel also makes its own gifts for guests – its latest being a box of handmade praline ‘wishing bell’ chocolates. The design of the chocolates reflects the unique location of the hotel and references a local legend. According to Tomaz Hrastar, whose studio helped to develop the product and design its packaging, the chocolates are inspired by a story surrounding the famous lake.

‘There is a small island with a church in the middle of the lake,’ he explains. ‘According to legend, a widow who lived in the nearby castle was travelling to the island on a small boat when she lost a bell she had brought with her to place in the church. The bell sank to the bottom of the lake.

‘The legend holds that if you visit the island, ring a bell a make a wish, your wish will come through. We paid tribute to the legend and made chocolates in the shape of a bell and packaged them in a beautiful box.’

The packaging displays the identity Hrastar designed for Starkl – a gold monogrammed ‘S’ surrounded by the name and the date of the hotel’s founding – and employs the typefaces Tenor Sans (Denis Masharov), Silka (Atipo Foundry) and Hello Bride (50Fox).